His body was therefore laid in state in the cathedral, where all came to view it and condole with Kriemhild; but when Gunther drew near to express his sorrow, she refused to listen to him until he promised that all those present at the hunt should touch the body, which at the murderer's contact would bleed afresh.

All stood the test and were honorably acquitted save Hagen, at whose touch Siegfried's blood began to flow.
"It is a mighty marvel, which oft e'en now we spy, That when the blood-stain'd murderer comes to the murder'd nigh, The wounds break out a-bleeding; then too the same befell, And thus could each beholder the guilt of Hagen tell." _Nibelungenlied_ (Lettsom's tr.).
Once more Kriemhild restrained the angry Nibelung warriors from taking immediate revenge, and, upheld by Gernot and Giselher, who really sympathized with her grief, she went through the remainder of the funeral ceremonies and saw her hero duly laid at rest.
Kriemhild's mourning had only begun.

All her days and nights were now spent in bitter weeping.

This sorrow was fully shared by Siegmund, who, however, finally roused himself and proposed a return home.

Kriemhild was about to accompany him, when her relatives persuaded her to remain in Burgundy.